Portrait of Paracelsus

This engraving depicts the Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus. He is shown from the chest up, wearing a dark academic-style robe, a wide-brimmed hat, and a circular medallion suspended around his neck. The portrait emphasizes his steady gaze and somewhat heavy features, rendered through dense cross-hatching typical of mid-17th-century European printmaking.

Paracelsus (Theophrastus von Hohenheim) was a foundational figure in Western alchemy, iatrochemistry, and occult philosophy, bridging the gap between medieval Hermeticism and early modern chemical medicine. His iconographic legacy is central to the history of the Paracelsian tradition, which influenced centuries of esoteric thinkers and medical practitioners.